A dull misty morning, No wind. I fear it is a precursor to the coming of autumn with that particular unique autumn smell that appears unfailingly between the 7th and 9th of September. If we had believed the weather forecasts we would be fearing the latest plume of heat from Spain and would all be roasting. We should be so lucky. A busy day today, we will be going to OakHill local festival and also to Pilton which is near the Glastonbury Festival site. In the evening they are going to have a barn dance.

Have you noticed how often the word ‘fear’ or ‘fears’ of…. Any views on why?

Latest gems from Nexus News Feed

Nexus Newsfeed is the service that comes in every morning by E-mail about 2 am. It is of unfailing high quality and I always look forward to it. All the articles are interesting but in today’s issue three particularly stand out.

Does time really heal all wounds?
Seven signs you are a free spirit
feeling alone 13 ways to stop feeling so lonely and isolated. 

I have included links to these articles because I think they are worth a read. When you have studied them you will be in a position to understand my comments below more clearly.

So here is my 2p worth:

The first article demonstrates that time itself does not heal and in my view it is the forgiveness of anyone involved in a previous situation whether it is yourself or whether it is another party that is not relevant. You did the best you could with what you had and what you knew at the time, so beating yourself up retrospectively or attributing blame or responsibility is a waste of time. There is healing power in forgiveness.

The second article has huge numbers of boxes to tick and I find the checklist to be most comprehensive and adequate for most practical purposes. For most of us it will take many years to work through, accept and resolve the aforementioned questions. I like the statement in the last paragraph “being a free spirit is an essence, a call that emerges from deep inside”.

With regard to the third article, loneliness, the writer has tried to demonstrate that there are different types and causes of loneliness. I would point to possible alienation between your self – perceived self that is – and the message of your soul which has a unique task to fulfill in this incarnation.
One of the worst traps you can fall into is thinking that you are the only one. Think about it, that is most unlikely since the pressures that we have to endure are common to all of us.
The more specific are your interests, the less likely you are to find someone on the same wavelength. Great artists and composers and philosophers fall into this category. How can you explain your feelings if they are in the pre-formative stage in other words nascent.
I think we need to sacrifice pride, and if we get into a pit of despair we should consider sharing it with others. Idea of not wanting to bother people is frankly an insult to your friends who will be delighted to assist and if you do something silly they would say ‘ why on earth didn’t you tell me that things were this way?’
Patterns in our childhood especially up to the age of seven can have a marked effect on our proclivities and propensities. Maybe we need to seek out people who are differently abled, to use that dreadful PC expression, learn from them.
The death of a loved one especially if you have been living with them for many years has to be a shock to the average human being. Swans never recover from the death of a partner. Fortunately we have the means to reach out and find other people in a similar situation. Like the loss of a child, the people to really understand and resonate with you,  is someone who is on the same wavelength experience wise. That communality is a very good starting point for a sharing, accompanied by some emotional expression such as crying.
If you want to get technical about it Crying (for long periods of time) releases oxytocin and endogenous opioids, otherwise known as endorphins. These feel-good chemicals can help ease both physical and emotional pain. Once the endorphins are released, your body may go into somewhat of a numb stage. Oxytocin can give you a sense of calm or well-being.

There is a more general article published by Healthline.com which sums up some of the benefits of crying. It is amazing how many people apologize for so-called losing control when crying is the very emotion that can assist in healing. Another healing mechanism is laughter. When do you hear people apologise for laughing?

When all said and done we either put our stamp on the world or the world puts its stamp on us. There is no further alternative.

To the Market

Once a month in Midsomer we have a Farmers  market. There are about 15 stalls. There is a fish stand to which Francoise regularly goes, a delicious cake stand, honey, bread, goat cheese, vegetables, brick a brac, a coffee stand, someone selling locally made cider. We always have entertainment in the form of music and today it is a trumpeter.

I struck up a conversation with a local counselor, I think it was Michael Auton, Liberal Democrat, who was elected last May. He wants to get to know all the local  issues and face them. I commented that when people present, the first remark can be a bit of an explosion of discontent rather like a volcano and you have to get beyond this stage and find out what the matter really is.

I said I hoped he had the opposite attitude of the government who suddenly decided that 100 schools were not safe and had to be closed. Thanks for giving the parents one week’s notice before they go back. Really helpful, as someone on TV said the main problem with the government is that no one wants to take responsibility.

I popped into the local Dorothy House charity shop and I was very impressed by the variety of items and the cleanliness of the whole place. I also popped into Sainsbury’s where I was very amused by the leaflet. Somewhat of a contradiction some might say.

Today’s crazy news from 38 degrees

Oakhill Village Fayre

We parked in an adjacent field. The stewards were girls aged about 10 who did a great job, polite and so on. This is a small village and it is reflected in the comparatively small number of features. In the village hall there was the result of a small competition for cakes etc. In the hall there is also a community cafe which is open Wednesdays and Saturdays 9:30 to 4:00 p.m. and Sunday 2:00 p.m.. The usual combination of homemade cakes, barista coffees ice creams and lollies. I had a lemon cake, it’s tasted good without being sickly and it was very well prepared. Francoise also had a cake and we had one tea and one coffee for which we paid £9

I noticed a sign which was very encouraging (second one from the top) with the Very Good slogan ‘ make the whole world a library. Amen to that. I like the name book crossing zone. You take a book, when you have finished with it you return it and take another one out. I reckon this is a sure fire hit for a community based event. Many people do not want their books when they have read them, and also many people do not have the space to store lots of books, so this is in effect a free library.

On another stall I saw a Victoria sponge cake also a lemon cake for sale at £4.50 so we nabbed it. We will freeze half of it and have the other. Very good value and made with love as I was assured by the seller

I love the patriotic cake – see image – it seems almost a pity to cut it. I know that the flour was also colored.

There was a brass band that played away merrily but strangely they stopped at about 2.40 pm when they can only have started after 2pm. Be they were going to do another set but we did not stay around long enough to see.

The inflatable slides are now a feature of most of the shows, and the children were enjoying themselves. Once again, you identify the farmers amongst the audience. They are normally over six feet in height, very strong and muscular, they have got that lean and healthy look that you wouldn’t want to mess with. I suppose if you have to deal with cows and difficult to animals this does affect the psychology somewhat.

I do have to say that the size of the show was not the same as when I visited it about four years ago. There were fewer participatory events and features but it was pleasant enough. There was a barn dance planned for the evening but I did not fancy dancing on fairly rough grass as I felt that this would be risky for the integrity of the ankles. I may be wrong, maybe it’s just a question of  wearing the right shoes.

Pilton Fayre

Another matter altogether was the Fayre at Pilton. You will probably know this as part of Glastonbury Festival territory, the property of Michael Eavis. Yes, the one and only. I suppose a local event must represent the demographic of nearby inhabitants. You can tell people who are well heeled and professional not only by their dress but by their stance. There were plenty of them and they mixed in well with the handful of farmers that were there and their wives and children.

This took place over two days, strangely enough, and by the time we arrived at about three o’clock the place was well filled. There were two areas for judging. One was mostly photographs and the other one the usual fruit and vegetables judging which was in the same big marquee as the tea and cakes.

This was a very sweet story. Francoise was looking at an artwork and a young child who must have been about 7 years of age came up to her and said proudly ‘I made that’. She was congratulated where upon she ran off. I thought that was such an innocent thing to do. I was really moved.

This was a category I had not come across, it you category called provocative poetry. I don’t know whether you can read it but although it’s not brilliant from the syntax point of view it does make a point.

This was first prize in the family category. It looks busy to me but they are certainly functioning as one unit. I find their expressions a little contrived but the togetherness effort comes across.

And now we go outside and circulate. This was a very enterpriseing couple that performed all sorts of aerobatics on this scaffolding-like structure on their car. He played his guitar on one end and she sang on the other end. How entertaining was that? It was certainly different.

There was an amazing bric a brac area where unwanted items were made available for practically nothing. We bought a very good condition cast iron Le Creuset, cooker which could go in the oven, two light shades for £1, and I bought a pencil holder for 60 pence. The delightful Irish lady who sold it was full of the joys of spring and more or less said to us – give us what you can.

And now, into the main judging tent.

an amazing combination of colours

This is a very inventive distraction for children’s amusement. There is a small slide but the adventure of going in this huge tractor would I imagine be very attractive to some of the young children.

We arrived home. About an hour later we were greeted with the sound and then the sight of hot air balloons which for some reason chose to come from Bristol to Midsomer Norton. They made a fine sight as they roared their way along. A fitting end to a wonderful day.

‘this is the day that the Lord has made, rejoice and be glad in it’